"You Choose" — Colbeh

Venue: Colbeh Persian Kitchen & Bar, 207 Hagley Road, B16 9RE; Facebook 
Choice: Shah Platter (£34.95; for two) Chooser: Owner/manager

"Second comes right after first!" said Buzz Aldrin, spiritedly, on The Simpsons. It sure does Buzz! And on Tripadvisor's best restaurants in Brum (at the time of writing), Adam's was the Neil Armstrong of proceedings with Buzz represented by Colbeh. Colbeh? The second best restaurant in the city? Leaping into action (via Purnell's Bistro and Primitivo and Loki and Pub Du Vin) we arrived to find every table in the wonderfully weird Hagley Road Persian booked up. Devoid of self-respect we begged and it paid off. Tabled and beered our elation was curtailed when we discovered the recommended starter, Kashke Bademjan (aubergine, saffron and qurt sauce, £4.95) was not to our liking. Qurt. We've researched it extensively (Googled it once) and have no idea what it is. The main though, the Shah Platter, immediately redeemed matters. A dish so substantial Alec Guinness would feel the need to warn you that it's "no moon", it comes with lamb fillet, saffron chicken, minced meat skewers, lamb chops and chicken wings. Enough for two, minimum, all this comes with buttered saffron rice and sits atop a whopping great naan bread that catches all the juice. Everything on the plate, and we mean everything, was excellent but the saffron chicken triggered an out of body experience we didn't think was possible without a heater and some serious smelling salts. Saffron chicken, big in 2018. Qurt, not so much. Menu